Marty Ingels, an actor, talent agent and industry raconteur who was married to Shirley Jones for nearly 40 years, died Wednesday at Tarzana Medical Center following a massive stroke. He was 79.
Ingels made his mark as a comic actor in the 1960s with his zany style and rapid-fire, raspy-voiced delivery. In later years he worked as an agent and as a voice artist in cartoons, in addition to producing.
Ingels co-starred opposite John Astin in the 1962 ABC comedy “I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster” about two carpenters, one married and one a playboy; Ingels played the married Arch Fenster. The series, created by sitcom vet Leonard Stern, lasted only one season but has endured as a cult favorite among vintage TV fans.
Ingels logged numerous TV guest shots in that era. He notably played Rob Petrie’s Army buddy on “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” and had appearances on “Bewitched,” “The Ann Sothern Show” and “Pete and Gladys.”
By the 1970s, Ingels turned to working behind the scenes doing voice-over work on hundreds of commercials and cartoon series. He was the voice of AutoCat on “AutoCat and Motormouse” and Beegle Beagle on “The Great Grape Ape Show.” He later lent his distinctive vocal style to the 1980s videogame-inspired toon “Pac-Man.”
Ingels and Jones met in 1974 at a party at the home of “Little House on the Prairie” star Michael Landon. They married in 1977.
Ingels continued to make periodic TV guest appearances on shows ranging from “The Love Boat,” “Baywatch” and “Murder She Wrote” to “ER,” “CSI” and a 2013 episode of “New Girl.”
